CAT 2019 Question Paper PDF (Available): Download Free!
Common Admission Test 2026 ( CAT )
CAT 2026 exam
29 Nov '26
Read all about CAT 2019 question paper including difficulty level, topic-wise weightage, RC topics for both slot 1 and slot 2 exam. Also download CAT question paper 2019 for free.
CAT 2019 question paper was released by IIM Kozhikode for slot 1 and slot 2 on November 29. The questions papers were accompanied by official answer keys and question-wise solutions. Candidates preparing for CAT exam must go through the CAT previous year question paper to know the difficulty level of the questions, marking scheme and change in exam pattern if any. In this article, you will get CAT question paper 2019 PDF for free download along with analysis of both slot 1 and slot 2 papers. Read on.
The structure of CAT question paper 2019 is same as that of question papers of previous years as the CAT exam pattern has not changed in the last five years. The difficulty level and topic-wise weightage of questions were different from previous years, though. Take a look at the break-up of CAT 2019 question paper of slot 1 below:
- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Section-wise break up of questions
- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 1
- CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 2
- Free CAT Mock Test for Practice
CAT 2019 Question Paper: Section-wise break up of questions
The question paper of CAT 2019 was divided into three sections having both MCQs and non-MCQs. The number of MCQs were more in all the sections and apart from VARC questions, all were of easy to moderate difficulty level.
| Section |
MCQs |
Non-MCQs |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Aptitude (QA) |
23 |
11 |
| Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI) |
24 |
8 |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
27 |
7 |
| Total |
74 |
26 |
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Commonly asked questions
Till 2014, there were only two sections in CAT. Quantitative Aptitude was clubbed with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning was clubbed with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. In 2015, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning were clubbed together and Quantitative Aptitude and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension made two individual sections. Since 2015, the sectional segregation has remained the same but the number of questions have come down from 100 to 66. The exam duration has also been reduced. Until 2019, the CAT exam was of 180 minutes and the total number of questions were 100. However, in 2020, the question paper structure was revised due to COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the total number of questions came down to 76. In 2021 and 2022, the number of questions were further lowered to 66. For the last two years, CAT is conducted for 2 hours, and the number of questions is 66. In CAT 2024 however, the number of questions were increased to 68.
The latest CAT question paper structure is: Total questions: 68 Number of sections: 3 Order of sections - 1. VARC 2. DILR 3. Quantitative Aptitude Sectional time limit: 40 minutes VARC questions: 24 DILR questions: 22 Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22.
CAT question papers are released within a week of the exam in the form of a PDF as a response sheet and answer key. Candidates who have appeared for the test are able to access the CAT question paper and answer key. The question paper of every slot is released on the same day along with candidate response sheet and official answer to all question. If any candidate needs previous year CAT question papers for preparation purpose, then they can download them from Shiksha website. We have hosted last five years' CAT question papers for aspirants to download and practice. These official CAT question papers are available for download free. You can download the CAT question paper PDFs at this link: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/cat-exam-question-papers Candidates must check and practice the latest CAT question paper to know the latest exam pattern and difficulty level.
The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.
CAT has about 12-16 RC question. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.
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CAT 2019 Question Paper: Slot 1
Given below is detailed explanation of CAT question paper 2019, slot 1, including section-wise distribution of sections, topics and difficulty level.
VARC section:
The VARC section CAT exam paper 2019 had a total of 34 questions (24 from RC and 10 from VA). There were 5 RC passages of 550-600 words. Four passages had five questions and one passage had four questions. The topics of RC passages were:
- British Folk Music
- Topophilia
- Emperor Penguins
- Internet Shopping and Choice Anxiety
- Origin of Story of Alladin
The VA section had 4 questions on parajumbles, three on out of context sentence and three on summary. Overall, the difficulty level of VARC was moderate to difficult.
DILR section:
The DILR section of CAT 2019 exam had 32 questions divided into eight sets. Out of eight, six sets were from Logical Reasoning and two sets were on Data Interpretation. Each set had four questions.
Logical Reasoning sets included:
- Linear Arrangement in Super Market
- Archery
- Prizes to be put in 100 boxes
- Coding
- Streets Intersection
- Dancers and Composers
Data Interpretation sets included:
- Bar Chart + Table Crimes in States
- Spider Chart on 5 vendors and 6 attributes
QA section:
The QA section of CAT question paper 2019 was of medium difficulty level. In total, it has 34 questions, out of which, 13 were easy, 13-15 were medium and 6-8 were difficult. This section had maximum number of TITA questions (11). The questions were from the following topics.
| QA topics |
Number of Questions |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic |
13 |
| Modern Math |
8 |
| Geometry |
7 |
| Algebra |
5 |
| Total |
34 |
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 2 days ago
Yes, COEP, Pune does accept CAT score to admit candidates for MBA admissions. During CAP rounds, if candidates have a valid score in CAT, they will be chosen based on those scores only. Thus, such candidates are not required to reappear for MAH-CET.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
No, to gain admission to the MBA course at this university, candidates have to either attempt the CAT or other accepted exams (MAT, SUAT, etc.) and then appear in the Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI) rounds.
Students are shortlisted for the GD and PI rounds based on their performa
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
IIT Madras CAT cutoff 2025 is generally not released to the public and is instead only visible to students with login credentials.
Based on the previous year's estimated CAT cutoff for the General AI category, the overall CAT percentile was 85.11.
Note: The cutoff data provided is not official. It i
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
No, you cannot get direct admission to the MBA course based on the CAT score. A valid CAT score only gets you eligible to apply for the management course.
To secure your spot for the course, you have to first attain the accepted CAT cutoff and get shortlisted for the multi-stage selection process, wh
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
No, CAT is not a mandatory entrance exam for MBA admissions at Pratibha Institute of Business Management. Candidates who want to apply for MBA courses cal also appear for MH -CET, XAT, MAT, GMAT and CMAT. However, appearing in any one of these exams is a mandatory requirement for MBA at Pratibha Ins
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
To get admission at IIT Kanpur for the MBA/PGDM course, candidates have to secure a CAT percentile of at least 90 if they belong to the General AI category.
Candidates who clear the exam cutoff are then eligible to take part in the Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI). Students who pass
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
IIT Kanpur provides the MBA course based on the student's performance in the CAT exam. In 2025, the overall CAT percentile was 90 for the General AI category candidates. For more information, refer to the table below. The cutoff provided below is for the General AI category.
| Section | IIT Kanpur MBA cutoff 2025 |
|---|---|
| Overall | 90 |
| Quants | 50 |
| VA-RC | 50 |
| DI-LR | 50 |
Note: The cutoff provid
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
No, to get admission at IIT Roorkee for the MBA/PGDM course, students have to first attempt the CAT entrance examination and attain a valid percentile. Those students who clear the cutoff are then eligible to move to the second round of admission, which involves PI (Personal Interview).
Students who
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Aspirants must have more than 70 percentile in CAT for admission in MBA programme of Department of Management Studies, NALSAR University. Such aspirants do not have to appear for NMET (PG) conducted by DoMS for admission.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered a week ago
The actual required CAT percentile is only visible for candidates with login access. But, based on previous years' estimated CAT cutoff for the General AI category, 90 percentile would be required overall and 50 percentile sectionally for the previously-mentioned category.
Note: The actual cutoff da
N
Contributor-Level 10
Vipra Shrivastava is MA in English Literature from Delhi University with extensive experience in content writing of over 14 years. She has been handling content for Management, Accounting and Commerce streams for 8
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